Climate Security In the U.S. Army’s Strategy 2025

Army Gen. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army (IE&E), at a Tooele Army, Utah, renewable energy farm (Photo by D. Myles Cullen)

The U.S. Army’s Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment [OASA(IE&E)] released on Jan. 12, 2015 its “Strategy 2025.” According to the Army’s website, “OASA (IE&E) Strategy 2025 is important, as it serves to guide and shape the Army’s future and current actions related to Installations, Energy and Environment, as well as provide the strategic roadmap to achieve its vision.” Climate change is a part of this strategy.

…essential contributions to the Army. They encompass the processes, initiatives, information, and talent that enable our organization to accomplish its mission. These drivers are the guiding force in executing OASA(IE&E)’s strategy and are the key factors and influences that propel our organization’s success.

Under each KBD is a list of Major Objectives, defined as:

… the efforts and actions we will actively be involved in to reach our vision and accomplish our mission. These objectives are long-term organizational goals that convert our mission statement into more specific plans and projects. They set the major benchmarks for success and are used by leadership to guide decision-making.

References to climate change are listed under the KBD, Energy section, Major Objective 2.4:

Major Objective 2.4: Build resiliency. Advance the capability for systems, installations, personnel and units to respond to unforeseen disruptions and quickly recover while continuing critical activities.

2.4.3. Adapt to uncertain, changing conditions. Develop comprehensive energy, water, and land management practices, to include materiel and acquisition decisions that can adjust to evolving conditions such as climate change and increased need for defense support to civil authorities.

2.4.4. Adapt to climate change. Identify and assess the effects of climate change across the Army by collaborating with internal and external stakeholders. Integrate climate change considerations across four lines of effort: Plans and Operations; Training and Testing; Built and Natural Infrastructure; and Acquisition and Supply Chain.

Preparedness for climate change is just one part of the strategy to ensure the Army is prepared for the future, but an increasingly important one, especially in the context of the 2014 DoD Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap (CCAR), which noted that climate change “poses immediate risks to national security.”

Great to see that the Army continues to take climate change risks seriously.